ENGLAND VS RUSSIA VS ISRAEL VS ENGLAND

If you live anywhere remotely near England (Africa, for example) you will be looking at headlines everywhere talking about the Israel V Russia clash this Saturday.
If you live in London and are not English, god help you. Alex Ferguson could take a s*** on Arsene Wenger’s head and it probably wouldn’t matter in the sports pages.
Actually they might run it as a by-line next to one of Ferguson’s ‘Scotland can do it’ speeches.
Yes, the media are getting very excited about Israel’s chances. Yahoo yesterday revealed that a senior coach in the Israel set-up had revealed they would not be taking it too seriously and would be selecting a few younger players for the experience.
Today yahoo chooses to reflect on Russia’s poor away record to teams ranked 34th or above. Israel just happen to be 34th, and believe it or not, yahoo has also spotted they have an impressive home record.

Well, the media may have decided if England aren’t in Euro 2008 there’ll be no ‘Teddy Sheringham boozes’ stories. No ‘Wags’ to speak of. Hell, they’ve already destroyed McLaren so there’s barely a chance of a ‘Graham Taylor turnip’ headline if they don’t qualify.

So, it’s time to start playing mind games and try and undermine Russia’s attempts to beat Israel and secure qualification. Isn’t it about time a member of the media stood up and said that Israel owed England the victory given their hard work in 1949? Hell, Israel are lucky to have a ‘home’, surely a thrashing of the Commies is in order?

Maybe the media don’t want to politicise this so we’ll have to put up with the players offering their backing for McLaren, the pundits saying it’s time to go for McLaren etc etc blah blah blah.

Scotland is another matter. Part of me feels like it’s going to happen. Part of me feels like Italy will score and shut up shop for the 1-0 win. It’s a tough one to call but fantastic for Scotland to be in a position from the group of the World Cup finalists to qualify with their final game.

One thing is certain, Italy won’t take this match lightly as France may have. The recent troubles in Italian football could well prove to be a motivating factor for the Azurri. Then again, Scotland will be 100% focused on the game and the shy and retiring camp mentality, staying out of the media, is the smartest thing they could do.

No mind games. No predictions. Go out and give it as good as you’ve got. It might not be enough. But if it is……